If Only Real Girls Knew They Could Break Records – Stargazer Lottie Returns to Earth

Aug 26, 2016

Have you ever dreamed of having a doll that was just like you? Have you ever dreamed of going to outer space? Six-year-old Abigail designed the Stargazer Lottie doll, the doll which travelled to the International Space Station (ISS) with British European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake on the Principia space mission. The ‘Stargazer’ Lottie doll is a collaboration with the ESA, and was created by Irish toy company, Arklu.

Today on Friday the 26th of August, Stargazer Lottie makes her journey back to earth, after celebrating #264 days in space. Italian European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti holds the record for longest single space flight by a woman (199 days 16 hours)and now Stargazer Lottie returns following her own mission to champion women in space and STEM and having inspired children all over the world to dream big and reach for the stars; Stargazer leaves the ISS on the Space X Dragon cargo ship on Friday the 26th of August at 5:45 a.m. EDT (10:45 am GMT) and parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific is expected at 11:47 a.m. about 326 miles west of Baja California.

Six-year-old Abigail is the star of a short video by female filmmaker Elena Rossini, about how a young girl designed the first doll to go into space, the mini-documentary now has over half a million views across social media. Stargazer Lottie visited the International Space Station along with British ESA astronaut Tim Peake in December 2015, having travelled ahead on board Orbital ATK's “S.S. Deke Slayton II” Cygnus cargo spacecraft. Tim Peake completed his 186-day stint at the International Space Station on the 18th of June 2016, and Stargazer Lottie is due to return on the SpaceX’s uncrewed Dragon cargo ship on August 26th 2016. SpaceX’s Dragon is the only spacecraft currently flying that is capable of returning significant amounts of cargo to Earth.

NASA astronaut Tim Kopra captured an image of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, on the company's eighth Commercial Resupply Services mission, from the Cupola Module of the International Space Station during Expedition 47 in April 2016.

Credits: NASA

Abigail’s idea for an astronomy themed doll to help other kids learn about space, was the inspiration behind Stargazer Lottie. During her time on board the ISS, Stargazer Lottie fulfilled her mission to get kids interested in space. Arklu have shared online astronomy resources, #LottieInSpace interactive competitions and content during the mission and received letters, photos and videos from inspired children all over the world. During the campaign, Tim Peake sent word from Lottie in space to his 1m following, with a picture from the Cupola showing the Stargazer Lottie Doll, in the box gazing into outer-space, following this Commander Chris Hadfield tweeted a message of encouragement to Abigail and Lottie dolls to his 1.57 million followers.

The ‘Lottie in Space’ video shows Abigail at home with her brother and Mom Zoe in Comox, British Colombia, Canada, talking about her passion for space. Her words capture the specialness and magical wonder of childhood, and the importance of letting children be children, and enjoy their childhood, with unfettered hope and idealistic dreams for the future. For Abigail, that vision which is shared by the company behind Lottie Dolls, has been brought to life and Abigail will welcome home her creation on the 26th August;

#welcomehomelottie We can't wait to welcome home Stargazer Lottie, what next in store for the flame haired astro-doll? Watch this space...